Jonah 2

Jonah 1:17–2:10 (ESV)

17 And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

1 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, 2 saying, “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. 3 For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me. 4 Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.’ 5 The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head 6 at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God. 7 When my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple. 8 Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. 9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!” 10 And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.

Intro : CAVING

Caving in BC

Choosing to GO, being able to leave, having a light with you.

Jonah in the fish, dark, alone, unsure if he’ll live.

Not able to leave, no idea where he is going.

Even worse:

Jonah sinking in the ocean.

cast into the deep

the heart of the sea

flood surrounded him

waves and billows passed over him

waters closed in over me to take my life!

Deep surrounded him

weeds wrapped around his head!

His life was fainting away.

Jonah was experiencing God’s judgement for his actions and it wasn’t pretty.

Anyone have any experience of sinnking in the water? Feeling of drowning?

The text can be broken into 3 different sections this morning;

The Setting - God Hear’s Jonah’s prayers (1:17-2:1)

The Journey - Jonah goes down but God brings him up. (2:2 - 6)

The Point - Steadfast Love and Salvation are with God alone! (2:7-9)

The Setting: God hear’s Jonah’s Prayer (1:17-2:1)

Chapter 1 ended with Jonah being thrown into the sea by the mariners.

It’s interesting he didn’t just jump in himself if we knew the whole time that, that would have made it end.

Jonah was in the water and that’s when he prayed to God.

Most people think Jonah prayed from the belly of the fish (which he did) but his first prayer is from the water, we’ll see that as we go through it.

1:17 tells us that God appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah

Jonah is in the fish for 3 days and 3 nights

The fish is God’s way of saving Jonah from his judgement of the water.

remember the theme of water and judgement in the O.T.

The test mentions 3 days and 3 nights, clearly pointed us to and linking Jonah to Jesus’ death and resurrection.

some things the same, some different

3 days is the same - 3 nights is different.

The journey - Down —> UP

The proximity to death

2:1 - Tells us that Jonah prayed now from the belly of the fish.

Prayed for Salvation

Prayed after Salvation

NOTEABLE

YHWH Appointed - he controlled the storms and the seas and now he governs over a fish and tells it what to do and where to go.

YHWH Miraculously saves Jonah - God is not stuck, His power is limitless, his abilities are infinite, he can do anything at any moment for anyone.

YWHW heard Jonah’s prayer!

ILL 1: Dagon Vs. YHWH

people of Ashdod defeat Israel (philistines)

2 days it falls over

third day - head and hands cut off!

1 Sam. 5:6 “The hand of the Lord was heavy against the people of Ashdod, and he terrified and afflicted them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territory.”

Ill 2: Baal Vs. YHWH

Truth about God: God hear’s!

APPLICATION

Believe it!

You must believe that He’s real, he lives, he hear’s, he cares, he is not absent minded or uninterested. No one in this world care more about you and is more interested in you than God himself!

He created you, He loves you, He wants to strengthen you and help you, He wants to satisfy you and bring you joy and happiness.

Stake your life on this fact, GOD”S ALIVE AND HE HEARS

Live in light of it!

He hear’s every word you say, good or bad

He see’s every action you do, good or bad

He appoints trials, troubles, small acts of discipline/judgement to train/teach/rebuke us.

Trust Him!

He heard the prayer of a stubborn, hateful prophet. He’ll hear you.

He uses the storm and the fish to teach Jonah but not to harm him

Know that he hears And he answers. Sometimes not in the way we want.

ILL: NOT A DIVINE VENDING MACHINE

BUT HE IS a loving Father!

We see in these first two verses how God hear’s Jonah’s prayer and answers, Jonah then goes on to recount the journey for us in vs. 2-6.

2. The Journey - Jonah goes down but God brings him up. (2:2 - 6)

Vs. 1 tells us the Jonah prayed, vs. 2 tells us what he prayed from the belly of The fish.

Let’s go through the text together. Talk about it with the person beside you.

What dId Jonah do/What happened to Jonah?

What did God do?

Jonah:

Called out

I cried

I am driven away

I shall look again

I Went down

God:

he answered me

heard my voice

“you cast me”

your waves and billows

vs. 4 Drove him away (I am driven away)

vs. Yet you brought up my life

Vs. 4 shows us

In the face of death, Jonah had a hope in God!

Driven away yet I shall look again on your holy temple

Maybe the resurrection?

Vs. 3 - YHWH CAST him into the sea.

hurl from Ch. 1

Hurled the storm

Hurl me overboard, they hurled him.

God is always the one reigning

He sovereignty used the mariners to cast Jonah into the deep.

Remember God’s Omnipotence

Here we see his sovereignty, he’s all powerful, all knowing, and so He reigns over all things!

Why is this a good thing for us?

If Not God who Is in control?

God’s perfect, abounding in steadfast love, who would we rather?

Nothing is meaningless, accidental, coincidental. GOD IS ALWAYS WORKING!

APPLICATION:

What is God doing in you, your life, your situation right now?

Are you experiencing difficulty, trials, suffering because He is trying to teach you something?

Are you experiencing ease and comfort as there’s nothing noteworthy or especially different about your day to day life right now?

Maybe God is giving you space to learn about your need for him and see how sin and things of the world cannot ultimately give you the joy that your heart longs for.

God is sovereignty reigning over each of our lives and the question is, what work is he doing?

Vs. 6 summarizes the narrative of these 2 chapters:

Jonah went DOWN

But GOD brought him UP!

This is the primary work of God!

To raise sinners out of death and into life!

How does he do it? Through Christ’s atoning sacrifice!

Through The Spirit’s continued work.

QUESTIONS FOR US TO CONSIDER:

Has he brought you up, would you be headed down or up if Christ returned this morning?

Or if you have trusted in Christ, ask are you calling out to God continually? Or looking to and trusting in yourself Or material possessions?

Pray:

If you’re real God, help me to understand and believe your word!

Help me to understand my need for you

Help me believe that you would really love me

Help me understand the depth of the forgiveness you offer in Christ

Help me understand the ugliness of sin

Help me not to look to the things of the world for meaning and purpose

Help me to cry out to you when I am sinking!

God hears and God answers.

We’ve seen the setting, that Jonah was in the fish praying and now we’ve seen the journey, that Jonah went down but God brought him up!

Let’s finish with the Point!

3. The Point - Steadfast Love and Salvation are with God alone! (2:7-9)

Jonah continues to recount the story:

vs. 7 When his life was fainting away

He remembered

His prayer went to God.

Vs. 8— Moral of the Story!

Jonah 2:8 ESV

Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love.

Preach: THERE IS ONLY ONE PLACE OF STEADFAST LOVE

Not your friends

Not your hobbies!

Not your work!

Not partying, drinking

Nothing in this world, will bring steadfast love to your life!

But God sees all your sins and has steadfast love for unworthy sinners!

HE SEE’s:

your lying

your doubting

your selfishness

your fear

your weakness

your compromises

your sin

your weaknesses

your pride

and he holds out the offer of full and free forgiveness because Jesus was willing to take on the punishment for your sins!

Jesus was willing to embrace the darkness that Jonah had to go through!

How much worse was his:

Jonah said:

My life was wasting away! “I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever!

Jonah deserved this punishment!

Jesus deserved nothing but blessing and life from God! But he went down not to the bottom of the sea but to the depths of hell For you!

Jesus went down, to the furthest point possible, not because he wanted to, not because he deserved to, but because He loved you! He loved us enough to take on our sin, our curse, our punishment so that we could be brought up to God with him forever!!

The vain idols you live for might not be like Dagon!

Dead and inanimate objects

But rather more complex desires or pursuits!

But nevertheless they will not bring you steadfast love

They will need bring you wholeness

They will not bring you lasting joy , hope, life! They will disappoint!

Jonah moves from the moral of the story to talking about the way forward.

In vs. 9 he says, with thanksgiving he is going to sacrifice to God and pay what he has vowed.

And he restates the main point:

“Salvation belongs to YHWH”

So this Morning, what are these verses calling us to do?

Application:

REMEMBER YHWH

ILLUSTRATION:

Cave —> Remember your flashlight!

Drowning in the ocean —> Remember your life jacket!

Lost in the woods —> Remember your satellite phone!

Lost spiritually —> Remember YHWH!!!

HE HEARS and He Cares

Call out to him and he can save you!

Remember that God reigns over all things, that he has mercy and love for sinners.

Remember you were created for a glorious purpose

you were given gifts and abilities that are unique to you!

Remember that nothing in your life is an accident or mistake but that God reigns over all things and He is working for your salvation and joy in Christ!

Jonah prayed to God for salvation, God heard, answered and now Jonah prays and recounts his journey down and then back up from the depths of the sea.

The chapter ends with God speaking to the fish!

It started with God appointing the fish to save Jonah and now the fish vomits Jonah onto dry land At God’s command.

Let’s pray!